Dream Out Loud

2001–2002

I was the bassist for this Atlanta-based trio from December 2001 through September 2002. In our press kit, we described ourselves as an amalgam of The Who, The Police, and U2. Or, in retrospect, imagine if Jeff Buckley had lived to jam with Stewart Copeland and John Paul Jones. This band was the “proving ground” for my erstwhile rock star ambitions. Judging by the fact that we got a slot at the 2002 MidPoint Music Festival in Cincinnati (and were well-received by the audience, even though we did almost get mugged in the parking lot afterwards), I’d say we achieved a modicum of success.

These days our drummer Michael Allen can be heard with Mercury Drop.

Feel ~ 4:37

Start Living Again ~ 5:17

Hope (Live) ~ 6:40

Flying Colors

2001–2002

While playing in other bands in Atlanta in 2001 and 2002, I also participated in this trio, whose primary mission was to blow the minds of those in attendance at open mic nights with our 11 1/2-minute instrumental Rush medley. That, and eating at Waffle House at every opportunity.

What’s Your Rush? (Rough Demo) ~ 11:30

Tayl

2001

Tayl is an Atlanta-based hard rock band. I was their bassist from April to December 2001. Although we were originally called Precious Metal, we had to change our name when we were presented with the spurious threat of a lawsuit by a minor (minor) record label that owned the back catalog of a little-known and long-defunct all-female ’80s heavy metal band. Tayl is still together, with a loyal and growing following in Atlanta.

Three Options

2000–2001

This was a Minneapolis-based blues-rock trio (surprise!). Featuring a Dutch Monkey, a Good Commie and… me.

They We Are

2000

This Minneapolis-based band was a loosely structured classic rock cover band that ranged at various times from four to eight members.

Scrød & Leather Congregation

1993–1999

These were a pair of comedy bands I participated in during and shortly after college. Most of our work was in the poorest imaginable taste, thereby ensuring that I will never run for public office.

Monsters of Opera (Scrød) ~ 0:53

Bassius-O-Phelius

1990–1997

From amidst various informal high school projects, including The Uncalled Four and Phosgene, came Bassius-O-Phelius: a duo (occasionally expanded to a trio or quartet) that blurred the lines between composition and performance. Throughout our college years and beyond, our work was typically in the form of multitracked recordings, with each performer playing multiple instruments in successive rounds of group improvisation. Impossible to realize live, the act of performing became a tool of composition, and the final recording, when played back, became the performance.

While this all sounds dry and pedantic (or just plain ridiculous), the music was generally lighthearted and played with absurdist humor. Or, as a reviewer in the progressive rock magazine Exposé described us, “Ummagumma era Pink Floyd meets Eno at a French street corner cafe and they actually hit it off!”

Vinson Massif ~ 3:55

Poece of Cape ~ 8:12

Room 141 ~ 5:04

Naerve Boever Braend Haed Choeze ~ 4:24

Red Techno Sector 5

1996

This is where I finally realized Duran Duran was disco. By the mid-’90s, just enough time had passed to dissolve what had previously seemed to be a rigid division between the bellbottomed disco ’70s and the pompadoured New Wave ’80s. My role in this late-’70s/early-’80s college cover band was minimal, but any chance to perform the sax solo in “Rio” is a chance worth taking.

Uforik Mustərd

1992

Somewhere between a dare and a joke there’s a high school band named Uforik Musterd. (There’s supposed to be an umlaut over the “s.” I have yet to find a character set to properly display this band’s name… at least UTF-8 makes the schwa possible.)